Pulley cleaning construction



DC- 17, 1945 v R. Q. ARMINGTON 2,412,554

.PULLEY CLEANING CONSTRUCTION Filed June e, 1945 2 shevetsfsheet 1` INVENTORJ RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON ATTOR N EYS.

Dec. 17, 1946. R. Q, ARMINGTON PULLEY CLEANING CONSTRUCTION Filed June 6, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORI H RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON ENY ATTORN EYS.

Patented Dec. 17, 946

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PULLEY CLEANING CONSTRUCTION Application .lune 6, 1945, Serial No. 597,793

(Cl. ISS-229) 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in pulley cleaning construction and more particularly to the removal of dirt from the pulley of a conveyor loader working under dirty conditions.

An object of the present invention is to provide a blade for scraping dirt from a pulley of the type described together with novel rotating spring means for carrying the dirt away.

Another object of the present invention is to provide cleaning means for a pulley driven by the rotation of the pulley itself.

Other objects of the invention include the novel construction and arrangement of the parts whereby the pulley is eliciently cleaned, the dirt is eiiiciently carried away, and the parts are so constructed and arranged that they will operate for a long time Without interruption even when subjected to severe operating, conditions. I Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and description, and the essential features thereof will be summarized in the appended claimsA In the drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan View ci a portion of a belt conveyor adapted to handle dirt or the like showingl one embodiment of my invention and with certain parts broken away to more clearly show the construction;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the device of Fig. l with one of the beams broken away to more clearly show the conveyor;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view, enlarged, of a portion of Fig. l and taken in the position of line 3--3 of FigA 4, with certain oi the parts .being shown in section to more clearly illustrate the construction;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view or" the right-hand end of the device of Fig. 3; while Fig. 5 is a View taken along the line 5--5 of Fig. 3. K

Certain features of my invention are applicable to many types of apparatus, but Ihave chosen to illustrate as one embodiment the application of my pulley cleaning apparatus as applied to a digging and loading device which is fully disclosed inthe copending application of Raymond Q. Armington and George E. Armington, Serial Number 593,412, led May l2, 1945, to which reference may be had for a more complete description of the loader device. It is sucient to state here that digging and dirt-guiding devices generally indicated by the reference character iii herein are mounted on beams Il which cause the digging .devices to enter into the ground as the equipment moves thereover. Embodied in this larger apparatus is the conveyor l2 consisting of the frame i 2a, a tail pulley |212 and a head pulley (not shown), there being an endless conveyor belt t3 passing over the head and tail pulleys and driven by means at the head pulley, not disclosed here but fully disclosed and described in the copending application mentioned above. Preferably the upper run of the conveyor passes over a series of troughing idlers i4, it being understood that the dirt travels on the upper run of the conveyor belt from the lower left-hand corner of Fig. l diagonally upwardly toward the right-hand end of Fig. l and on beyond this point to discharge into a vehicle which carres the dirt away as described in the copending application mentioned. Preferably also, the lower or return run of the conveyor will travel on plain cylindrical idler rolls to keep the conveyor belt from sagging too much. Preferably also, a dirt shed (not shown) is provided between the upper and lower runs of the conveyor to insure that any dirt dropping oil the upper run of the conveyor will be discharged sideways out the openings l5 in the conveyor frame. This dirt shed is of a usual type of shallow inverted V-iorm in section, the central ridge of the shed running parallel with the center line of the upper run of the conveyor and the sides thereof sloping toward the openings l5 on each side of the conveyor frame.

Devices of the above-described type do not operate Well unless dirt is prevented from clinging to and building up upon the tail pulley |213. To prevent this, the outer cylindrical surface of this pulley is hardened and provided with a smooth iinish, and a scraping blade i6 of hardened metal engages the surface of the pulley, as ibest seen in Fig. 4, substantially tangentially to the cylindrical pulley surface and on the side thereof where the surface of the pulley is moving downwardly as the pulley rotates in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 4 due to the travel of the belt i3 as driven by the head pulley mentioned above. Preferably the blade I6 is thin and resilient having the characteristics oi spring metal for a. purpose later described.

A pan i? is provided for collecting the dirt from the blade i6. This pan is generally of the form oi a long hollow cylinder having a cylindrical wall around substantially three quarters of the perimeter of the cylinder, leaving the open space ila directed toward the point where the blade I6 engages the pulley surface. The side of the lpan nearer the pulley is bent out of the generally cylindrical form to lie parallel to the blade IG along the pan portion l'lb, and the blade I6 is secured to this part oi the pan. Preferably, but not necessarily, the left-hand end of the blade l5, as seen in Fig. 3, is provided with a notch lSa opening toward the adjacent end of the blade and adapted to receive astud i8 which is fixed on the pan portion i'b where it extends to the left (Fig. 3) beyond the generally cylindrical portion of the pan il. rlhis stud i8 is rigid with the pan and has an enlarged head lying on the pulley side of blade l so as to rrnly hold the blade there. At the opposite end a stud bolt I9 passes through blade it into the pan portion l'lb to x that end of the blade. Preferably the yblade i6 is provided with paralle1 top and bottom edges Ib and |60, and the notch iba and the hole which receives stud bolt l are both midway between edges IBD and itc so that the blade is reversible.

The left-hand end of pan Il, as viewed in Fig. 3, is substantialh7 closed by the end plate llc to which is rigidly secured a sleeve l'd which supports this end of the pan in a manner presently described. The righthand end of the pan, as viewed in Fig. 3, is open for the discharge of dirt, and this end of the pan is welded to a mounting flange 2l) through which pass bolts 2l to secure the same to the conveyor frame. Preferably also, an Lshaped plate 22 extends substantially the full length of the blade I6 with the longer leg of the L parallel to and engaging the blade to support it firmly. ThisV L-shaped plate is welded to the pan l'l rigidly and provides a pocket into which the blade I is slipped. Preferably, but not necessarily, a small portion of the top of the dirt pan is cut away near the dirt-discharge end, as best seen in Fig. 3, to insure that no dirt piles up on top of the pan but falls directly into the pan for discharge by the means presently described.

'Ihe means for discharging the collected dirt out of the pan l'l comprises a long helical spring 23, lthe outer elements of which generally conform to the bottom of the dirt pan. Means is provided forrotating this spring in a direction to carry the dirt out the open end of the pan.

I provide a novel drive means which utilizes the normal rotation of the tail pulley lZb. Mounted on the left end of this pulley, as viewed in Fig. 3, is a pinion 213 which is keyed to the pulley shaft to rotate therewith. Meshing with this pinion is the large gear which in turn rotates shaft 2B which is connected through a universal joint device 2l to the shaft 28 which is rigidly connected with the spring 23. Suitable bearings and gear case are provided for the pinion 24 and gear 215, as shown in the drawings, but these are of usual and known type. The details of the universal joint device 2l need not be described here as they form no part of the present invention and merely provide an eilicient drive even though there is slight misaligninent of shafts 25 and 28. It will be noted that the shaft 28 passes through the hollow central portion of the sleeve I'ld, these parts being coaxial with the helical spring 23. 'Spring 23 is wrapped' around and Welded to collar 3o which iS threaded on the inner end of shaft 28. It results from this constructionA that as the belt I3 pursues its normal course of travel, the pulley l2b is rotated, and by the gear connections just described causes rotation oi spring 23 in a direction to discharge dirt out the open end of the pan Il.

The details at the left end of pan Il, as viewed in Fig. 3, will Anow be described. Secured to a portion ofthe conveyor frame marked I2C is a amarsi bracket 3J which, as best seen in Fig. 5, has a vertical Wall 3Ia parallel to the pan portion l'lc, and above this an inclined portion 3Ib which is sloped so as to form a dirt shed. This bracket is stiifened and held iirmly in place by means of a tubular strut 32 which is welded between the bracket 3| and an L-shapedv plate 33 which in turn is rigidly secured to the part I2C by means not shown. In the inclined wall Slb is inserted a sleeve 34 which extends clear through the wall and is Welded thereto. The inner diameter of this sleeve is chosen to i'lt the outer diameter of the sleeve Hd, previously described, so as to firmly support the end of the dirt pan. The shaft 23 then passes through the sleeve 313 and through the hollow sleeve Hd as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

It will be noted that the above construction permits the tilting of pan l1 about the sleeve ll'd as a pivot. In assembling the parts, the pan ls so tilted to move the left-hand endof scraper blade lli in stressed position against the pulley surface lZb, and thereafter the other end of the pan is secured in place by the bolts 2l so as to yieldingly press the blade H3 at all points against the pulley surface |212.

It will be noted that the driving connections, previously described, and more clearly shown at the left end of Fig. 3 and housed in the gear casing 35, are placed far enough to one side of the conveyor belt I3 so that dirt falling from the belt is not near the driving parts. It will be noted also that all of the parts are so housed and protected that dirt does not easily get into the moving parts, and by this means the pulley is kept continuously clean, and the dirt is continuously moved away from the parts which might be injured thereby.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be noted that any dirt falling off the upper run ISa of the conveyor belt will be deflected by the Vdirt shed 3.b and fall to the ground instead of falling upon the lower run |317 of the belt.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a conveyor and a rotatable pulley over which said conveyor passes, a dirt pan adjacent said pulley, said pan being a major circumferentialiportion of a hollow cylinder positioned with its axis parallel to the axis H of said pulley and with an open side of said cylinder substantially tangential to saidpulley on a side of the latter which rotates downwardly toward said pan, a scraper blade oi' spring metal resiliently engaging said pulley on said side thereof, said blade connected with the open side of said cylindrical pan, a helical spring in said pan extending longitudinally thereof, said spring substantially conforming to the inner walls of said pan, said pan having an open end, and means for rotating said Spring in a direction to carry dirt out said Open end of said pan, said last named means having an operative connection with said pulley to provide driving means therefor.

2. In combination with a conveyor and a rotatable pulley over which said conveyor passes, a dirt pan adjacent said pulley, said pan being a major circumferential portion of a hollow cyllnder positioned with its axis parallel to the axis of said pulley and with an open side of said cylinder substantially tangential to said pulley on a side of the latter which rotates downwardly toward said pan, a scraper blade of spring metal resiliently engaging said pulley on said side thereof, said blade rigidly connected with the Open side of said cylindrical pan, a helical spring in said pan extending longitudinally thereof, said pan having an open end, interiitting bearing members on Said conveyor and on said pan at the end opposite said open end `for mounting said 5 pan oscillatably about said bearing members, other means nearer the open end of said pan for holding the same with said scraper blade resil- RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON. 

